Popular stationery chain Paperchase has entered administration - leaving the future of its Kent stores and employees on the brink.

Administrators Begbies Traynor confirmed the move today, putting 820 jobs at risk in its 106 stores in the UK and Ireland.

Supermarket giant Tesco has stepped in to buy the brand and but reports suggest it isn't expected to keep any of the stores, including five in Kent.

Trading is expected to continue, with gift cards still being accepted for the next two weeks.

Stores in Canterbury, Maidstone, Bluewater, Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks are now all uncertain.

Paperchase also has a unit in Next in Maidstone.

A statement from Begbies Traynor said: "Unfortunately, despite a comprehensive sales process, no viable offers were received for the company, or its business and assets.

"However, there has been significant interest in the Paperchase brand and attendant intellectual property."

The administrators have vowed to "monitor trading" in stores and provide updates as and when they are available.

Tesco's managing director of home and clothing Jan Marchant confirmed the company is taking over the Paperchase brand.

She said: "Paperchase is a well-loved brand by so many, and we're proud to bring it to Tesco stores across the UK.

"We have been building out plans to bring more brands and inspiration to the ranges we currently offer and this will help us to take those plans further."

She added more information would be shared "in due course".

Paperchase bosses had put corporate restructuring business Begbies Traynor on standby in case its rescue talks collapse, two years after it filed a notice to appoint administrators in January 2021.

It was one of many retailers crashing into insolvency during the Covid pandemic.

The chain faced an ownership change when it was taken over in August last year by investor Steve Curtis.

It was put up for sale just four months later and earlier this month it was revealed the company is now being auctioned by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

It has around 100 stores across the country and when Mr Curtis took over, he was said to be backing an existing management plan to grow to expand to approximately 150 stores in the coming years.